Mandeville has been selected as the best place in Louisiana to raise children in an annual survey by a national business magazine website. BloombergBusinessweek.com’s seventh annual list of great small towns to raise kids ranks Mandeville as No. 1 in the state, despite noting that it sustained some flood damage during Hurricane Katrina.

Ellis Lucia, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

To establish the rankings, the website worked with Bloomberg Rankings to evaluate more than 3,200 communities nationwide with between 5,000 and 50,000 residents. Public school performance and safety were weighed most heavily. The local job market was gauged by measuring unemployment and median income.

Also considered were factors such as housing costs, commute time, poverty, adults’ educational attainment, share of households with children and diversity. Data for the survey was gleaned from the FBI, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and GreatSchools.org, which rates schools nationwide.

Communities with median family incomes of more than $115,866, the lower limit for the wealthiest 20 percent of U.S. families, were not considered.

The story associated with the survey notes that up to 30 million Americans work from home at least once a week, due to the emergence of telecommuting. That gives

working parents more flexibility than ever before when selecting a place to live. For those not inclined to live in large cities, smaller communities offer a viable alternative for those trying to avoid the stresses of urban life. The survey seeks to point out good options for more a laid back life, “including places without the isolation and lack of diversity typically associated with “Mayberry,” according to the Bloomberg story.

The Mandeville listing in the Bloomberg report lists the city’s population at 11,561 and gives its school a rating of 9 on a scale of 1-10. The city’s median family income is listed as $86,731 and the housing cost as a percentage of income was placed at 19 percent. The unemployment rate was reported at 5 percent.

The listing also points out Mandeville’s proximity to New Orleans and mentions the St. Tammany community’s “deep roots in jazz. At the historic Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall, opened in 1895, audiences still sit on wooden benches as they listen to tunes,” according to the listing.

In Mississippi,the city of Brandon was listed as the best place to raise kids in the Bloomberg piece. Pelham, a suburb of Birmingham, was listed as Alabama’s best, and Helotes, near San Antonio, was ranked number one in Texas.